War does more than destroy buildings. It can also wipe out knowledge collected over centuries. In Italy during the sixth century, battles across the region damaged cities, schools and libraries that had once been centres of learning.At a time when the Western Roman Empire had already fallen and rival rulers were fighting for control of Italy, priceless books and ancient ideas were going to disappear forever. But one Roman official believed there was a way to protect them.Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus spent years in government before he left politics behind and founded a monastery where monks copied, translated and preserved manuscripts. Their work helped save religious writings as well as important books on history, philosophy, ethics and literature that people continue to read even today.
Years of conflict
The Roman Empire did not collapse in a single event. Historians generally mark AD 476 as the end of the Western Roman Empire after the last emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was removed from power by the Gothic commander Odoacer.Even after that, the fighting continued and one of the biggest conflicts came during the Gothic War which lasted for nearly two decades and caused widespread destruction across Italy.As cities suffered, schools and libraries were also damaged. Books became harder to protect, and learning itself was under threat. It was during this period that Cassiodorus decided preserving knowledge had become as important as winning battles.
This eighth-century Codex Amiatinus illustration depicts Ezra, but many scholars believe it also represents Cassiodorus. (Picture source: Georgetown University)
He valued learning
Cassiodorus was born around AD 485 near present-day Catanzaro in southern Italy. He worked under the Ostrogothic ruler Theodoric the Great and eventually became Praetorian Prefect, which was one of the highest offices in government. Cassiodorus was also highly educated. He studied law, Greek and Latin literature. His ability to write made him an important adviser and he often prepared official letters for the royal court.Many of those letters were later collected in a work called Variae. Along with government matters, they reveal his interest in subjects such as philosophy, mathematics and music.After leaving public office, Cassiodorus travelled to Constantinople, where he spent several years studying theology.At the time, many important philosophical and religious works were still available in Greek, including the writings of Plato and Aristotle and early Christian texts.Back in western Europe, however, fewer people could read Greek. As contact with the Eastern Roman Empire weakened, access to those works also declined.Cassiodorus realised that if nobody copied or translated these texts, future generations might never read them. He therefore began translating Greek works into Latin while encouraging others to study both traditions.
This illustration from an eighth-century Bamberg manuscript shows one of the best-known depictions of Cassiodorus’ Vivarium monastery. (Picture: Georgetown University)
Monastery became centre
Later in life, Cassiodorus returned to his family’s estate in southern Italy and founded the Vivarium monastery. It included living spaces for monks, separate buildings for hermits, a library and even a bookshop for visitors. It also provided shelter for people in need and treatment for the sick.Unlike many monasteries of the time, the Vivarium placed strong emphasis on learning alongside religious life. “I was moved by divine love to devise for the monks, with God’s help, these introductory books to take the place of a teacher,” Cassiodorus told the monks, Epoch Times writes.He added that these books would help readers understand both “Holy Scripture” and “a compact sketch of secular letters.”Although the monastery was Christian, Cassiodorus believed that knowledge should not be limited to religious writings alone. The library contained copies of the Bible and Christian commentaries, but it also included works by writers such as Cicero and Aristotle.He also wanted manuscripts to be copied carefully and attractively. Inspired by the idea that beauty and goodness were connected, he believed producing elegant handwritten books was itself an important task.
A lasting influence
Cassiodorus did not stop the wars that continued across Europe during the Middle Ages. But his ideas changed the role of monasteries.Before the Vivarium, copying manuscripts was often done without much organisation. After Cassiodorus, many monasteries across Europe began treating the preservation of books as one of their main responsibilities.Many of the texts that shaped Western history, including philosophical works by Plato and Aristotle, historical writings, biblical manuscripts and other classical books, survived because they were repeatedly copied inside monasteries.
